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De-facto and De-jure Authority

The word ‘authority’ is derived from
the Latin word ‘auctoritas’ which
means the right to exercise power given by the State (in the form of
government, judges, police officers, etc.). Authority is the power or admitted right
to command or act. Authority is the power to do something. Authority means the
institutionalized exercise of legitimate power which is backed by law or
constitution and common consent.

Weber defines ‘authority’ as a
legitimate form of domination, that is, forms of domination which followers or
subordinates consider to be legitimate.

The dictionary meaning of the word
‘authority’ is the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues
or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine.

Authority can be original or
delegated. It can be de facto authority or it can be de jure authority too.

De facto is a Latin expression that
means "in fact, in reality, in actual existence, force, or possession, as
a matter of fact". De jure is an expression that means "of right, by
right, according to law"

The ability to get one’s proposals,
commands, and pronouncements accepted and thus determine other people’s
behaviour is to have authority de facto, whereas to have the right to make
pronouncements, issue commands of certain kinds and get others to obey them is
to have authority de jure.

So, the difference between the two is
mainly with the way the word ‘authority’ is used. De jure authority can be
viewed as a set of rules whereby certain people are authorized to do some
things but not others. De jure stresses that the extent of authority depends
not on whether he can authorize others to act but on what actions are open to
him/her within the rules. De facto authority exists whenever a human recognizes
another as entitled to command him. To have de facto authority is to stand out
as having a certain relation to other people; that one can make them do what
they command, because they are "convinced" to do so. The relationship
of de facto authority arises from de jure, whereby some principles of
legitimacy gives a ruler the right to command.